Female Infertility

For women, your ability to become pregnant can be affected by your age and common female fertility conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and ovulation disorders,  endometriosis, blocked fallopian tubes and uterine fibroids.

Infertility has been historically defined as a couple not conceiving after 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse. Current data show that most couples will conceive within six months of trying, so best practice now suggests you seek a fertility assessment if you are not pregnant within six months.

Apart from increasing female age, infertility can be caused by problems within the female reproductive system, such as ovulation failure, tubal disease or endometriosis (about 40% of cases), or with sperm (again, about 40% of cases). In at least a third of cases there are both male and female factors causing problems.

To conceive a healthy baby you need a healthy egg and sperm to meet in the right environment at the right time. Sometimes this isn’t as easy as it sounds.

Both female and male factors can affect fertility so understanding how both reproductive systems work is crucial.In 40% of infertile couples the cause is due to a sperm factor, in 40% it is due to ‘female factors’, such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) or endometriosis and in one third of couples it is both male and female factors combined.

For women, the most common causes of infertility include:

• The woman’s age.
• Problems within the female reproductive system such as endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS and tubal disease.
• Irregular periods, generally caused by ovulation disorders.
• Blocked fallopian tubes which may prevent the sperm from meeting with the egg.
• Sexually transmitted infections (STI’s).